How I Got Over Myself And Started Buying Clothes at Thrift Stores

I’ll be the first to admit it–I’m a major MAJOR germaphobe. I also grew up in a rather high-maintenance town full of people who would never, ever be caught dead rifling through others’ hand-me-downs. To say that 16 year-old-me would be horrified to learn that 35 year-old-me would be a thrifter would be perhaps the biggest understatement ever made.

Fast forward to my first few years in the DC area. I was living in an apartment I couldn’t afford on $40,000 per year. I’ve always (and continue) to value looking nice but realized very quickly I couldn’t afford the types of clothes I wore growing up. A friend invited me to the Junior League’s Tossed and Found rummage sale. Even though I am a JL member, I thought the T&F were for those people and I never went myself. When I finally went, I was surprised to see that thrifting is not only fun, but a great way to score designer pieces for a fraction of the price.

If you’re resistant to thrifting, read on. Even if you can afford/want to financially prioritize new threads, I promise thrifting is worth exploring.

Clothes are rarely one of my “three things” but I value looking nice.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the “choose three things” financial theory and got a lot of good feedback on it because it truly is an easy formula to follow. In short, you choose 2-3 things to financially prioritize and try to cut out all other things. Mine currently are: paying off my car; travel; and dinner at nice restaurants. Every quarter, I’ll reassess my “things,” but right now clothes aren’t on there. I’m very self-disciplined with these kinds of things so when I realized I needed some threads to go back to the office, I hit up Good Will and spend $30 on six new looks. Crazy, I know.

I learned the right thrift stores to frequent

This is key because NOT all thrift stores are created equal. The nicer ones are typically in (or near) nicer areas. If you’re local to DC, the Goodwill on Glebe Road in Arlington and the Goodwill on Boiling Branch in Rockville are the best I’ve found, but I’m sure there are plenty of other good ones!

I love the fact that thrifting is environmentally friendly

Any way I can cut down on waste is good by me! I’m not going to lie and claim that that is my main reason for thrifting, but I do like that added bonus!

I figured out that you can, in fact, find uh-mazing labels at thrift stores.

I can’t stress this enough–when you go to swanky areas, you find fancy clothes. Like these…

KonMari is still huge in upper class neighborhoods

For as bass ackwards as it sounds, the accumulation of “things” is no longer an upper class thing… And my theory is that it’s because of this truly life changing book. Anyway, if people get rid of stuff as quickly as this book recommends, many of the toss-aways have barely been worn. Heck, I’ve been known to wear things 2-3 times and get rid of them so I have no reason other people don’t do the same.

I mix thrifted finds with my timeless “investment” pieces.

I actually hate that term; no clothing item is ever going to appreciate in value (but I digress…). However, there are ways to make thrifted items look very chic if you mix them with your nicer items. I always find it fun being creative with new thrifted finds. Here are some things I came up with…

What treasures have you found while thrifting? It can be such a fun way to score deals and I’m officially hooked!